Macron Backs Czech Plan For Ukraine Ammo, Speeding Up Supply

On a visit to the Czech capital, Prague, French President Emmanuel Macron states that the Czech gov'ts plan to purchase ammo from third countries to send to Ukraine is "very useful", and says that France is ready to contribute to the plan. Macron's comments come as a partial climbdown. The French gov't has previously called for any joint procurement plans for EU countries purchasing weaponry or ammo for Ukraine to prioritise purchases from EU firms, even if it meant slower deliveries to Ukraine.

• Bloomberg reportedearlier on the likelihood of Macron backing the Czech plans at his meetings with President Petr Pavel and PM Petr Fiala. "A French official insisted that the Czech push to source ammunition wouldn’t be funded by EU mechanisms such as the European Peace Facility, but by bilateral contributions."
• So far, the Czechs have the preliminary commitments of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania as well as Canada regarding its plan to deliver 800k rounds of artillery in the coming weeks.
• A major factor behind the advances of Russian troops along the front lines in recent weeks and the loss of towns such as Avdiivka has been a shortage of ammunition and artillery. A swift and significant increase in supplies could serve to reverse this situation.